Kristin Kreuk On Why She Left SMALLVILLE
The Street Fighter star chats about saying goodbye to Lana Lang, and expresses confidence in her ass-kicking skills.
Recently, ANDREW WILLIAMS of Metro.co.uk interviewed Smallville's Kristin Kreuk, and topics of discussion included her departure from the Superman TV series.
The 25-year-old Kreuk played Lana Lang for seven years, which, she noted, represents her whole adult life. It far exceeded any expectations she had for the show's longevity: her original Season One contract was for 13 episodes total, and a ratings slump during the fifth season prepared her for cancellation.
Now, more than two years later, she's returning to Smallville for five episodes of Season Eight to tie up her storyline, because, as she said, she's "moved on." But she doesn't want fans--or cast and crew--to think she'd grown sick of the show.
"I love the people and it’s a wonderful show to work on but I realized there were things I couldn’t do due to the schedule on Smallville," explained the Canadian beauty. "Lana has changed so much since the first season so she was always fun to play. I just wanted to try something else."
"Something else" includes the starring role in the upcoming video game-based actioner Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li (right). Kreuk, who's actually part-Chinese, is pretty confident her martial arts skills will stand up on the big screen.
"I did karate, dance and gymnastics when I was growing up so I was good at the wire work for the fight scenes," she said. "I spent five weeks training with stunt coordinators. I don’t know if I could kick your ass if we met on the street but I’m decent at looking like I’m good at fighting."
Smallville's 8th season kicks off tonight (September 18) at 8pm on The CW.
[Thanks to STEVE YOUNIS at Superman Homepage, who got the story lead from ADAM DECHANEL.]